A Night of Separation

April 15
The pastor and his wife had us over for dinner and we had a wonderful time, with both laughs and deep thoughts. It was a pleasant though not particularly romantic way to celebrate three months of marriage, with a couple that still has a Christ-centered marriage decades later. We were a little surprised that we had to eventually request to be excused around 12:30! I still had to pack for my trip the next day.

April 16
Today was a strange day as it is the first night I've ever spent away from my life. I suppose it was good practice for the week of separation we'll have when we go to the states at different times. I joined some of the guys she works with for a quick ski trip to Austria. It's strange that in the same amount of time it would take me to drive from Midland to Lubbock, I can be in the Alps. Salzburg is a very pleasant town, and is much cleaner than other cities like say Venice. We grabbed some bratwurst and sauerkraut (sp!) and then hiked up to a castle at the top of a steep hill. Being the cheapskates that we are and seeing as how I would be spending quite a bit the next day to ski, we decided not to pay 8 euros to go inside. We saw Mozart's birthplace, again from the outside. Then we made the drive up to Bad Gestein and checked into a bed and breakfast. It was interesting to be somewhere that not everyone spoke English. Most of the time they understood us, but didn't respond. I had my German grammar book with me, but it's too much work! Bad Gastein has a beautiful waterfall in the middle of town and the pizzeria we tested for dinner was superb.

April 17
I love skiing. I don't even know how to describe it, but I love the wind blowing on my face. I love looking at the mountains while I'm on the lift. And I love being able to say I've skied the Alps, though hopefully not for the last time. Ben and I used to recite the passage about all the trees of the field clapping their hands before him while we were on the lift. I've certainly had a number of great ski trips in the past - Copper Mountain with Crestview over Y2K, Santa Fe with FBC Abilene, and Copper again with CBC College Station. They're always so refreshing, though we didn't have praise & worship on this trip.

For those of you worried about me leaving Bree at this point, never fear, for I was scouting out a potential location for our one year anniversary.